Umahi-owned firm docked over alleged $600,000 money laundering as EFCC arraigns GMD

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu Zonal Directorate, has arraigned Mrs. Egwuche Chinyere Gladys, Group Managing Director of Brass Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, alongside the company before the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu over alleged money laundering involving $600,000.

Gladys and the company were arraigned before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly accepted cash payments totalling $600,000 in 12 tranches between March 13 and April 11, 2023, as part payment for a 180220TPH Granite Stone Crushing Line sold to Patan Nigeria Limited and Reinforce Global Resources Limited (JV), without processing the transactions through a financial institution as required by law.

One of the charges alleged that the defendants accepted a cash payment of $50,000 on March 13, 2023, at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, an amount that exceeded the statutory threshold of ₦10 million.

The anti-graft agency said the action contravened Section 2(1) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and is punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Following their plea, EFCC counsel, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, Rotimi Enitan Ajobiewe, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending trial.

However, defence counsel, Roy O. U. Nwaeze (SAN), moved a pending bail application and prayed the court to grant his client bail.

Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo subsequently granted Gladys bail in the sum of ₦200 million with two sureties in like sum. The court ruled that each surety must own property within the court’s jurisdiction and ordered the defendant to deposit her international passport with the court registrar. The EFCC was also directed to verify the addresses of the sureties within seven days.

The matter was adjourned until November 11, 2026, for trial.

Brass Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited is owned by the Minister of Works, David Umahi.

According to claims contained in the statement accompanying the report, the transactions under investigation were linked to contracts awarded by the Ebonyi State Government during Umahi’s tenure as governor.

The statement further alleged that the petition leading to the EFCC’s investigation was orchestrated by the current Ebonyi State Government as part of an ongoing political rift between Governor Francis Nwifuru and the Minister of Works.

However, these allegations regarding the motivation behind the petition remain claims by the source and have not been independently verified or confirmed by the EFCC or the Ebonyi State Government.

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